When was your Burges Salmon interview?
January 2018
What was it for?
Vacation scheme
Please describe the interview process at Burges Salmon.
There was an assessment day at their office in Bristol. It was the longest assessment centre that I have attended, and there were quite a few applications (maybe 30) we were split into groups of 4 with a trainee buddy to take us around for the day. There was a presentation on the firm, a group exercise, a critical thinking test, and an interview with a partner.
What advice would you give to future applicants about the Burges Salmon interview?
I think that the interview with the partner is the most important part of the day. It lasts 30mins and most of the questions are incredibly predictable. For example, 'why this firm' and general questions on your experience listed in the initial application. Be prepared to talk a lot about what you wrote as there are some longer essay style questions in the application. The group exercise is not too tasking, but remember that the biggest aim is to appear like you work extremely well in a team. Definitely don't talk over people or be in any way aggressive, as that doesn't fit at all with the ethos of the firm. Similarly, being too quiet is also undesirable. They stated that the critical thinking test has little weighting on the outcome, so I wouldn't worry about this. Overall, I think the most important thing at this firm, if you have the grades and experience, is to be a friendly person, seem enthusiastic, and be quite outgoing. At this firm I have not met anyone who is not genuinely friendly, so though it seems like a long and stressful day, it was not a negative experience.
